Tag, you're it!

Okay, sometimes I appreciate graffiti.

I'm not talking about the crude "Yo momma's fat, f*** you" stuff you find on bathroom walls. I mean the stuff that looks like it would have taken someone hours to do, and makes you wonder why the hell they don't put it on a canvas and try to make a career of art. Or the whimsical characters that pop up in unexpected places. One of my favorite examples is located just south of I-30 on the access road that runs between Sylvan and Beckley (in case you want to find it).

Originally, there was a small army of rather harmless appearing green goblin-like creatures, all shapes and sizes, some with a little fang jutting out. Those little guys always brightened my day, I dunno why. Recently, there has been some metamorphosis underway... some of those goblins are now white, more rabbit-like, and one of them is stating that it loves Dallas. The sheer size of the whole piece would be hard to capture on canvas, and nowhere else would it get the kind of exposure to the masses as it gets while people are trapped in rush hour with time to actually look around at the scenery.

Now, I know. Graffiti sucks up lots of money and defaces property. I'm not saying that people should endorse it. I just wish that, if it's going to exist, that it takes on this form.

Now, a personal graffiti story. Kind of.

When I was in 7th grade, I sat next to the wall by a corkboard during history class. I forget his name, but Coach X taught the course. I recall he was obsessed with JFK, and was beginning to show signs of male pattern baldness. He also spoke in a monotone. During a monologue where I was particularly bored, I began to look at a bare patch on the corkboard, and noted initials here and there, and a couple of small doodles. One random scratching looked kind of like the ears of a horse.

Now, I liked (and still do!) drawing horses. I'm a girl. It's my thing. The coach was writing something on the board, so I picked up my pen and began to form the shape of a finely formed head (Arabian-esque). Lovely. I began to get into this thing, and where initially I had only intended to complete a portrait, I thought to myself, "I've still got room for the rest of this guy, why not?" In my own little world, I began to engross myself in delineating a prancing steed, complete with flowing mane and tail. A masterpiece.

Perhaps I should have been clued in by the ominous silence around me, but no. I didn't see the shadow across my desk, either. It wasn't until the class erupted into giggling that I glanced up and into the doleful eyes of the coach. Severe mortification for me, I tell ya. I mean, I was a complete teacher's pet, and I broke into a cold sweat thinking "Crap, I'm gonna get detention, it's going to ruin my perfect record, I'll never get into college!"

The coach, to his credit, was a pretty decent guy. "Peralta, you done defacing school property?" "Yes, sir, I believe I am." "Good. Don't let me catch you doing it again." "Agreed, sir."

I'm pretty sure he made me do extra laps later, but it didn't kill me, and I probably needed the exercise anyway.

There was something else I was going to blog about, but it escapes me... 'til next time.

Random Link: Funny T-shirts? Hell, yeah!